Zombieland textual analysis

Zombieland

Mise en scene- the mise en scene shows the white house and how it has fallen and the hands of the undead as there is no longer any democracy this shows that from now on anything goes showing that the world has fallen apart “this is no longer America” as there are few survivors.

Stock characters- within this film there are two main characters Columbus and calahasy Columbus is the main hero in this film which reforest the typical hero because he is a white male but also challenges it as he is not very strong or brave, calahasy is a typical red neck very violent and stupid and is obsessed with weaponry calahasy is the obvious helper in this film as he helps Columbus achieve his goal.

Stock settings- it is set in Texas America where the but the zombie attach is global so as they much they could be going into a gauntlet the director has made it a familiar places to make the film seem real and adds a bigger fear factor to the film particularly to Americans that live in that area, although it is this virus has hit all over the world they keep this film in America this challenges the typical villain theory as the villains are their own crazed people instead of a foreigner

 Sound- the sound within this film is mainly rock music setting the scene for how dangerous the situation is because the characters could get bitten or even ate at any point, also the iconic American national anthem is played but it is very disorientated they have done this to show how messed up America has become because of this virus that has spread, also there is digetic sound such as cars crashing or the growling noise which the infected humans make when they are chasing the non infected.

Narrative-the story of this film begins with two main characters which have given each other names the as to stop the feeling of a loose of a friend if one dies so our main hero is Columbus and the helper in this film is a red neck called calahasy their quest is to head to the destinations which they are heading for the places they are heading are the names they have given each other but as this place is filled with grifting survivors and the undead demons you can imagine it is not going to be an easy journey for these to people.

Editing- the editing in this film is similar to most energy filled action films there are many jump cuts and they have slowed down the filming of the saviours running from the infected, the jump cuts are used mainly when the action is unfolding for e.g. when they are being chased through the streets by mass amounts of the infected beings, and also when they are going toe to toe with these creatures and fighting them off with either hand held weapons or fire arms, they have slowed down the clips of the survivors running from the infected to show how close behind the undead are and how close they are to eating them this adds a bigger fear factor to the film because the typical zombie is typically very slow and unlikely to catch many people who are decently fit and can sprint at a reasonable pace, fade outs are used throughout the start of the film this is stop show each survivor attempting to escape from these beings and how much it has spread through America as there are almost no survivors left only a few Americans.

Themes-the main theme in this film is survival as that is there ain goal now not to become like the other creatures around them but they also earn that they can still build a new family even though they have lost their own due to this virus, which sort of adds a moral to the story that family does not have to be blood related people it can be people that show great affection and care for one other.

Camera angles- in this film there have used an establishing shot which shows the white house this lets you know that this film is in America, there are also many close ups and of the characters faces this is when they are often making speeches to one other or when we need to see the emotion on the characters face when the drama folds within the film, and there are often two shots when they are fleeing from the zombies to show their sheer ass of how many there are.

Iconography- there are many iconic things of American in this film for e.g. the white house the one of if not the most iconic building in American so you know where the film is set, another is the “red necks” of their country often having big expensive cars such as hummers and having a great love for guns and weaponry .

By Matthew Hurst